The proposed work will attempt to determine relationships between lipoproteins and their potential involvement in the metabolism of arterial metabolism. Aspects involving arterial protein synthesis will be emphasized. Lipoprotein fractions will be added to cultured aorta tissue or cell-free extracts from arterial smooth muscle in order to determine the extent protein synthesis is altered by the presence of lipoprotein fractions. In addition, other compounds of pharmacological and physiological interests will be tested (prostaglandins, estrogens, androgens, etc.) using in vitro systems (cell-free or minced tissue) with respect to determining protein synthetic rates. One protein that will be studied extensively is elastin. In addition to the effects on metabolism, basic aspects of elastin structure and function will be explored.